At my work folks always set off the alarm with the microwave. Usually popcorn. The FD said by law they have to show up and check out the building each time.
Maybe we change that law for starters.
Maybe we change that law for starters.
- The in unit smoke detectors can be triggered to warn occupants. No emergency services are called. If you have a cooking mishap or any kind of smoke, it will trigger, but just to wake the people in the unit up or annoy your neighbors.
- There are also smoke detectors in the hallway. Once this is triggered (presumably real fire), emergency services are notified and on their way. The building alarm will also sound. If it is found to be a false alarm, the tenant who triggered it is fined.
I think it's really reasonable. Small mishaps don't need to have a big response, but tenants do need to be notified. Once it's big enough (smoke in the hallway), then a response is justified.
This is specifically because the National Construction Code (NCC) requires multiple occupancy buildings to have certain fire safety infrastructure that generally includes a 2 hour fire separation between different occupancy units. This gives a buffer to all other occupants.
> There are also smoke detectors in the hallway. If a detector is triggered in a common area this has the potential to affect the escape routes of multiple occupants so it triggers an immediate fire alarm.
Australian fire safety rules are some of the best in the world.